How do we save money on entertainment?

I've had a few people ask me what kinds of things we do to save money. Living in California can be expensive (but you can say the same about a lot of places), so we need to be able to stretch our dollar where we can. One major way we cut costs is that we don't have cable. If we want to watch tv, we use:

We've been using Netflix with just the streaming portion of the services and we haven't been disappointed. Netflix offers a large variety of shows and movies, but also has some pretty good original content.

We also just got a Roku because our Chromecast and Blue Ray player have been acting up.

There are several versions, so it would probably be a good idea to talk to someone about which would be best for your needs. It was pretty easy to install and didn't take much time. Once you install it, you can download channels to use. It came in handy during General Conference because they had the BYU channel available to download. 

Although we did have to drop some money for the Roku, it is just a one-time payment. With cable, you have to pay a monthly fee. Overall, we really like using Netflix at about $10 a month and then the Roku for our other streaming needs. 

Patterns of Evidence: Exodus-A Review

I'm not always one for a documentary, but I am willing to watch with C when he suggests one. This past week we watched Patterns of Evidence:Exodus on Netflix.

The documentary follows this man as he examines arguments for why the Exodus did or didn't really happen.

I will admit, I was worried this would be one of those documentaries that try and get you to question your religion and turn you atheist, but I was pleasantly surprised. He goes through the arguments for both sides and the findings that he discovered.

He maintains that the reason we don't find evidence of Exodus events that took place in the time of Ramses is because the events took place a few hundred years earlier. I feel like most if not all of the questions/doubts he posed were answered.

Overall, this was a pretty interesting watch and clean.

Gilmore Girls, A Year in the Life Review

The new Gilmore Girls installment came out a few months ago, much to the excitement of many fans.

I have fond memories of watching Gilmore Girls with my mom and sisters, so I was excited to see the show.  We were left with a lot of unanswered questions....and we still have a lot of unanswered questions. 

The show follows Emily, Lorelai, and Rory over the course of a year following Richard's passing. I really missed the character, since he and Emily are my favorite.

I'll start with the bad points first and go from there...

I hated the musical portion except for the final song that they did. It could have been shorter and the time could have been used in other places. 

Lane got almost no time and it seemed like she had given up on her dreams. I would have liked to hear more about her.

Rory. Watching the original series off and on with my husband made me realize how Rory becomes this annoying, horrible character. She continues and gets worse in this series. I'm the first to admit that I am not perfect, but some of Rory's life decisions were stupid. Going back to Logan and messing up that interview for that internet journal were among some of the bad decisions we saw. I liked Logan, but he is ENGAGED and Rory has Paul. Rory treats poor Paul like dirt and is having an affair with a soon to be married man. Who does that? Then Rory has a place that is interested in hiring her and she doesn't even prepare, but she complains that she doesn't have a job and has like no money. if you need a job and there's one willing to have you, do your best to get it even if you think you are above it. You can always quit later. 

What I liked...

Lorelai's development was good and it was nice to see that from her. Her relationship with Luke has evolved from the original series. I really liked her pretzel monologue too. 

I still like Kirk, even though hearing ooober so often became annoying really fast. 

Jess was fun and it was cool to see how he's changed and stayed the same too. 

In the end, I'd watch more if it came, but I'm fine with it if they end Gilmore Girls for good right here. 

Fuller House: A Review

Growing up, I would watch Full House reruns on ABC Family, so of course I was interested in the remake on Netflix.

(source)

The first season came out right about when Baby A was born, which made it great for late night feedings when I didn't feel like reading. The season wasn't too bad. I liked it for the most part, but the Bachelorette references were a bit annoying for me. 

Season Two was a lot better! I liked how they handled adoption and infertility, plus I liked how they resolved DJ's relationships with Matt and Steve. The kids were a lot funnier too. There are a few dirty jokes, but I don't see kids catching them. However, I wasn't the most observant kid, so who knows. It would probably be a great idea to watch it first before letting your kids watch it first. 

The problem with finishing this season is that I need another series to watch during downtime. I guess there is always Gilmore Girls again....any recommendations?